Exposure
to ancient art and architecture was a key component of the Grand
Tour.
Antiquities,
the art of ancient Greece and Rome, set a standard for beauty
and culture that 18th-century Europeans hoped to copy and surpass.
Original works done in the style of the ancients, called
Neoclassicism,
were in vogue. Not only aesthetic but scientific interest was
turned upon antiquity, with the understanding that artifacts
could be a source of knowledge about the past. The borders,
however, were not always clear. Copies of ancient sculpture
and reconstructions of ancient scenes show a blending of observation
with fantasy.
Click the objects for details.